McLaren will continue pursuing a policy of rigorous fairness towards Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the 2026 Formula One season, despite their insistence on not imposing team orders almost costing Norris his world title by allowing a late challenge from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Last year McLaren enjoyed the most competitive car for most of the season and insisted their drivers would be free to race one another, applying their “papaya rules”.
Their admirable approach attracted criticism, not least as McLaren found themselves with increasingly complex precedents set when they did intervene. With their drivers taking points off each other, Verstappen joined the title fight, only missing out by two points at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Building up to the start of the new season – with a preview of their MCL40 at their headquarters in Woking – the team principal, Andrea Stella, confirmed they would be allowing their drivers the same freedom to race each other without team orders.
“The concepts of fairness, integrity, equal opportunities, sportsmanship, they are all fundamental for the team, for Lando and for Oscar,” Stella said. “So they are reaffirmed, they are confirmed and consolidated, if anything.”
Norris and Piastri indulged in a close fight across the season, with McLaren choosing not to favour one driver – had they done so, McLaren would certainly have closed out the drivers’ title at a far earlier point. However, Stella insisted he felt the team had done the right thing and would do so again.
“Once we reviewed what we have done, in most of the cases we said that’s exactly what we would still do again,” he said. “But we found a few opportunities in which we can streamline the way in which we operate collectively”
McLaren will unveil the MCL40 on 9 February in Bahrain but, even with a swathe of new regulations, Stella felt confident they were in a good position to defend their constructors’ and drivers’ titles and the team were as strong as he had ever seen since he became team principal in 2023.
“The team enters 2026 in terms of competencies, capabilities, organisation, culture if anything, in the strongest position that I have witnessed since I’m team principal,” he said. “We remain very confident that the wealth of capabilities, competencies, and the way we use them will be a success factor in the long term.”
